Medical treatment of various illnesses or diseases commonly include the use of one or more medical devices. Two types of medical devices that are commonly used to repair various types of body passageways are an expandable graft or stent, or a surgical graft. These devices have been implanted in various areas of the mammalian anatomy.
Old age, dietary habits and primary genetics can also lead to a common disease, atherosclerosis. Atherosclerotic plaques and blockages consist of lipids, fibroblasts and fibrin that proliferate and cause obstruction of a vessel. As the obstruction grows, the blood flow diminishes and reaches a level that is insufficient to meet the biological needs of one or more organs. The end result is defined as ischemia.
One purpose of a stent is to open a blocked or partially blocked body passageway. When a stent is used in a blood vessel, the stent is used to open the occluded vessel to achieve improved blood flow which is necessary to provide for the anatomical function of an organ. The procedure of opening a blocked or partially blocked body passageway commonly includes the use of one or more stents in combination with other medical devices such as, but not limited to, an introducer sheath, a guiding catheter, a guide wire, an angioplasty balloon, etc.
Various physical attributes of a stent or graft can contribute directly to the success rate of the device. These physical attributes include radiopacity, hoop strength, radial force, thickness of the metal, dimensions of the metal and the like. Stainless steel, cobalt and chromium are commonly used to form stents. A few stents are also formed of plastics or fiberglass. These materials are commonly used since such materials having a known history of safety, effectiveness and biocompatibility.
ICON Medical Corp. has developed technology that formed one or more surface structures and/or micro-structures on a medical device to facilitate in the success and/or use of the medical device. Typically, these surface structures and/or micro-structures are small and fragile structures that can become damaged when the medical device is packaged, handled, conveyed to a treatment area, etc. When such structures are damaged, the medical device can become fully or partially impaired.
In view of the current state of the art with regard to surface structures and/or micro-structures on a medical device, ICON Medical Corp. has developed new technology to address the problems stated above with regard to such surface structures and/or micro-structures on a medical device.